ALL MY CELTIC SAINTS - Charles Sturt University
Transcript of ALL MY CELTIC SAINTS - Charles Sturt University
ALL MY CELTIC SAINTS
So far
By Michael Galovic
Among the many icons I had done to this day, a fair number is of Celtic saints. The first one was of
Saint Patrick; the most recent one, just completed, is of Saint Brigid, similarly a patron saint of
Ireland. The others were Saint Finbar, Saint Brendan, Saint Declan, Saint Dymphna, the Venerable
Mother Mary Aikenhead and Venerable Sister Nano Nagle. I have now started on the the icon-like
depiction of Venerable Catherine McAuley, while I look forward to (finally!) creating an icon of
Saint Columba of Iona.
My first Saint Patrick was modelled upon Saint Nicholas, perhaps
the most beloved and revered Orthodox Christian saint, for its
tangential points of bishopric and white hair and beard. By the way,
saints until the 10th century, before the Great Schism are shared and
acknowledged by both the Catholic and Orthodox Churches. My
second Saint Patrick was quite different and without the Saint
Nicholas influences. From the beginning, I realised both how little
of the material available about this saint, as well as other Celtic
saints, is actual historical fact and how difficult it is to distinguish
between the fact and folklore,
myths, legends, beliefs and
regional tales. It is not much
different with many Orthodox
saints, some of whom are clearly
fictional, yet they still command
reverence and a great following.
One has only to think of Saint George and the Dragon, Saint
Paraskeve, Saint Christopher, and tales surrounding almost all
others.
Remember how Saint Nicholas actually turned into a Santa
Claus? Similarly, you would not believe how many Greeks would
assure you of the multitude of icons allegedly painted by the hand
of Saint Luke- anachronism is no obstacle for them…
Doing my research into Saint Finbar’s life, I came across a legend
saying that at some point God took Finbar by the hand and started
lifting him up to heaven. His then soul mate, another monk, wept
and pleaded with God to let Finbar still have some more time on
earth with him and his other companions. His plea was granted and
God let go of Finbar’s hand, but it remained forever glowing.
Finbar had to wear a glove on that hand to cover the glow when he
was serving at mass, so I depicted him with a glove on one hand
and the monastery in another. This sets him apart from western
depictions (not icons) of bishops and saints wearing white gloves on
both hands.
pg. 2
Saint Brendan the Navigator, the Voyager, the
Anchorite and the bold is one of my favourites.
In his currach-like boat, he fared alone and with
his monks, reaching many shores, from England,
via Iceland and Greenland to possibly even
America in his flimsy boat. My Saint Brendan is
also based on icons of Saint Nicholas and the
seastorm, saving the seafarers: he is praying to
God in the midst of the raging seas and majestic
undulating waves. Saint Brendan became a
patron saint of boatmen, mariners, travellers,
elderly adventurers and whales.
Saint Declan was another pleasure to work on,
with his luxuriant white beard, reminiscent of
so many elderly saints, hermits, prophets and
bishops.
pg. 3
Saint Dymphna has at least six
formally accepted spellings to
her name. She is another one
whose life is shrouded in the
mist and mystery of legends and
beliefs, yet she is one of the most
important saints in the Celtic
pantheon of saints. She is the
patron saint of the nervous,
emotionally disturbed, mentally
ill, and those who suffer
neurological disorders – and
consequently, of psychologists,
psychiatrists, and neurologists.
She is also a patron saint of
victims of incest.
Once I had Sister Nano Nagle (declared ‘Venerable’ in 2013) depicted next to Saint Marcellin
Champagnat as per the commission from the Marist Brothers; the other time, it was the Venerable
Mother Mary Aikenhead. In the latter case, I used a gilded background and a hint of a halo as signs
of her sanctity and importance as a foundress of Sisters of Charity in Australia although she herself
never set foot in this country.
pg. 4
For years, I had Saint Brigid on my mind as the subject for an icon, but it was finally a commission
at the end of 2017 which prompted me to deliver.
pg. 5
Saint Brigid is the greatest focal point of so many legends in Ireland, more than any other saint. Her
origins may well go back to the Roman goddess Minerva and the Celtic pagan roots are undeniable
in the creation of her fascinating legend, as we have a goddess Brighid in the insular tradition, but
“paradoxically, it is in the person of her Christian namesake St Brighid that the pagan goddess
survives best” (“Celtic Mythology” Hamlyn). She was known as “the Mary of Gael, founded the
first convent of Ireland’s history, at a place known as Cill-Dara (“the church of the oak”), now
called Kildare, where Brigid presided as abbess. She made her monastery a house of learning,
producing beautiful works of art, creating metalwork and copying and illuminating precious
manuscripts and books.
A perpetual fire, tended by nineteen nuns and St Brigid, burned in a shrine near her church at
Kildare, until 1220. In the Christian tradition the flame is a symbol of the Holy Spirit, of sacred
knowledge, but was also an ancient Celtic tradition inherited from Druids to maintain the flame.
There were attempts to rekindle it in the 1990s.
The name Brighid was originally an epithet meaning “the exalted one”, just as its cognate brihati
was used as a divine epithet in Vedic Sanskrit, and this perhaps gives point to (Bishop) Cormac’s
remark that “among all the Irish a goddess used to be called Brighid”...(Celtic Mythology, Hamlyn).
Having done the research and seen contemporary icons of the saint, my mind was made up to avoid
depicting the overwhelming number of symbols and attributes, so I settled for the “less is more”
concept, so as not to clutter the icon unnecessarily.
My St Brigid is enveloped in the colour green, so evocative of the Irish
soul and tradition. We see it in the background and in the ground, as
well as in her cloak. The treatment of the ground is not too
conventional but has precedent in the frescoes of the Serbian
monastery of Decani, especially in relation to the grading of the green
from the bottom of the icon and finishing with an ochre colour at the
top of the ground area.
My main objective was to create an icon of luminal value, so
everything in it had to be luminous, translucent, yet with vibrant and
engaging colours. St Brigid holds the staff as sign of bishopric (abbess)
in her right hand, while a monastery building is nestled on her left arm;
the flame of knowledge and faith is burning within her halo.
An elaborate chain pattern is used on the raised edge (frame-like) of the icon.
The inscription is in Gaelic, using one of the wonderful fonts from ancient Irish manuscripts.
Michael Galovic, March 2018, Australia